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China’s mega fortress in Djibouti could be model for its bases in Pakistan
COL. VINAYAK BHAT (RETD) Updated: 27 September, 2017 5:58 pm IST
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China's military base in Djibouti | Screengrab: CCTV

It is called a ‘logistics base’ but the 200-acre facility built by China can accommodate a brigade and has unprecedented security arrangements

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China has opened its first overseas base at Djibouti in the strategically located Horn of Africa. China began negotiations with Djibouti in early 2015 that culminated into a 50-year lease for what is being termed as a logistical support base.

The work on the 200-acre facility started in March 2016, along with the
construction of Doraleh Multipurpose Port by China State Construction
Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and is still continuing at a very fast pace.

The Chinese have always claimed that Djibouti is simply a logistics base
that will resupply naval vessels taking part in peacekeeping and
humanitarian missions until recently when the official voice Xinhua stated
that the base will also be conducive for overseas tasks, including military
cooperation, joint exercises, evacuating and protecting overseas Chinese and
emergency rescue, as well as for jointly maintaining security of international
strategic seaways.

Satellite images analysed by ThePrint, however, indicate that a massive
fortress is being constructed that can easily accommodate over a brigade
strength force, has an unprecedented four-layered security ring and can
handle a dozen helicopters.

The new facility caters to all type of replenishment that seems to be working on automated systems. The strategically located base would allow China to monitor all shipping movements through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

While it would enable China to exert influence in the African continent, the facility could be the model for similar bases that are being planned at Gwadar or Karachi in the future.

The fortress

The fortress that is still under construction has at least 10 storage barracks, ammunition point, storage, office complex and a heliport. The base also has a huge underground airconditioning plant, which may possibly include a water filtration (reverse osmosis) and ice-making plants.

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The large ‘8’ shaped five-storey building possibly provides accommodation
for troops. The office complex is likely to have a hospital and a gymnasium.

Access control and security

There are two entrances to the facility — the one towards the east connects to the main road. A side entrance caters to traffic from the container terminal.

Four layers of security fences have been constructed. The inner two and
outermost are solid fences. Two roads have been constructed for patrolling
in between the fences.

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The width of the innermost hollow fence is an unimaginable 9 m all along and at
main entrance it is 11 m. The height of inner two fences is 8-10 m. Lighting
is provided on second fence at regular intervals. Guard posts have been constructed along the innermost fence.

The access control at the main gate passes through two guard rooms comprising automated vehicle and personnel check systems.

Cold storage and AC plant

There are 10 barracks of 15 m x 45 m size with AC exhaust fans on both sides,
suggesting these are refrigerated cold storages. These cold storages are connected with huge 9 m wide pipelines on both sides, underground, connecting these buildings with the underground complex.

The heliport

The heliport has seven hangars to park choppers, along with a large hangar possibly for repair and maintenance. The other buildings would have motor transport garages and repair facilities.

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There is a runway of 400 m length in the complex. There is also an administrative building with air traffic control (ATC) on top of it. It could allow a view of deployment of about 12 Z-10 or Z-19 attack helicopters or a mix with Z-8 or Z-9.

Ammunition point

A hardened underground ammunition point has been created with modern,
possibly automated entry gates. A small loading/unloading platform is also
observed near the entrance. The entire area is further wire-fenced for
additional security. It has three main storages with a shelter for motor transport.

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Large fuel tank

A large (60m x 70m) semi-underground storage tank for petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) has been constructed near the underground complex. It is connected to two outlet points.

Miscellaneous

There is a new six-cabled electricity line running from the electric grid
to the facility. There are two entrances for construction staff and vehicles
to move within the complex. The west side of the facility that is still not
constructed may have satellite communications facilities, very low frequency
(VLF) and /or over the horizon (OTH) radar and a direct sea access in
future.
 
Type 056s are done with production in that they have 60 type 056s. Type 054As are done with production in that they have 30 type 054As. Are there any more plans for newer variants for Chinese frigates or are the shipyards working on mainly destroyers and carriers for the coming years.?

Four options to continue production: make more of same variants 056A and 054A. or make newer variants 056B and 054B. or switch focus onto making many more subs. or work on new semi-submersible frigates...
 
Regarding the type 056/A Corvette there appears to be little news of this type regarding launchings and commissionings. The last reports i have seen, were that there were either 42 or 43 vessels in active service, around June 2018, but nothings appears to of been reported since. even Chinese Wiki has no further updates, though they do list 68 vessels so far in the class that have been built, or under build. Has anyone have any recent data on this class? Thanks
 
Beijing is quickly building more aircraft carriers and will soon have more than just two.

China's first homemade aircraft carrier left her home port of Dalian for her third sea trial on Oct. 28, 2018. The Type 001A flattop could commission into frontline service as early as 2019, according to the U.S. Defense Department -- growing Beijing's carrier force to two and giving China the world's second-biggest flattop fleet.
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The new trial will test the vessel's weapons system, control system and communications system, Wang Yunfei, a retired Chinese navy officer, told Global Times.


The 55,000-ton carrier, which Beijing reportedly will name Shandong, is a modified version of Liaoning, China's first flattop. Liaoning is the ex-Varyag, which the Soviet Union built in the 1980s but never commissioned.

China acquired the incomplete vessel in 1998. Liaoning commissioned into the Chinese fleet in 2012. Carrying J-15 fighters and helicopters, Liaoning deployed to the western Pacific in April 2018 for her first realistic war game.

Shandong, if that indeed is the new carrier's name, shares Liaoning's layout and limitations. Lacking catapults, she launches planes by way of a bow-mounted ramp. That arrangement places hard limits on how heavy Liaoning's aircraft can be -- and how much weaponry and fuel they can carry.

The U.S. Navy's own carriers use steam catapults to launch aircraft weighing as much as 50 tons. By contrast, Lianong's ramp layout probably limits aircraft to a maximum weight of 30 tons, a former Chinese navy source revealed. A J-15 weighs nearly 20 tons empty. Fuel accounts for most of the available 10-ton payload on most missions, limiting the fighter's weapons loadout to just a few small missiles.

But future carriers could be better as China's decades-long investment in naval aviation begins to pay off. "Observers speculate China may eventually field a force of four to six aircraft carriers, meaning Liaoning, the Type 001A carrier and two to four additional carriers," Ronald O'Rourke, a naval expert with the U.S. Congressional Research Service, reported in August 2018.

The United States is the biggest carrier operator, with 10 large flattops in service. France, the United Kingdom, India and Russia each possess one carrier. Several navies operate amphibious assault ships that can support fixed-wing aircraft.

A third Chinese carrier that's under construction in Shanghai reportedly features catapults. "China’s next generation of carriers will probably have greater endurance and be capable of launching more varied types of fixed-wing aircraft, including [electronic warfare], early-warning and [anti-submarine warfare] aircraft," the U.S. Defense Department explained in the 2018 edition of its annual report on Chinese military power.

With more and better flattops -- and new aircraft to fly from them -- China could greatly extend its influence across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. "By 2020, carrier-based aircraft will be able to support fleet operations in a limited air-defense role," Jesse Karotkin, the Office of Naval Intelligence’s top China analyst, said in 2014

https://news.yahoo.com/danger-ahead-chinas-six-carrier-042200808.html
 
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